Breathtaking
by halffictionalprincess
Summary: Harry knew he wasn't for Hermione, he could never be, but he still forced himself to hold it together because even though it would break his heart, he would still do everything to make sure she was happy. Even if it was with someone else.


_**A/n- This is something I wrote based on a personal experience, because loving someone who doesn't love you back is very, very hard.**_

_**Disclaimer-Yeah sure...**_

_**Breathtaking.**_

He didn't know if there was a word to describe her. Beautiful, amazing, gorgeous... none of them did justice to the enigma that was Hermione Granger.

All he could do was look at her as another tear streamed down her face, and the ocean hit the shoreline again, and once more it was sent back. He wished he could take away her pain, her hurt, but he knew it wasn't him she needed, it was someone else, but she had to allow herself to forgive him, and Harry was going to be the one to help her do it.

He smiled at the irony of it all, here he was, going to talk to the only girl he'd ever loved and send her into someone else's arms.

He took a deep breath in, and walked to stand beside her, now they both stood on the shoreline, the shell cottage behind them.

In that moment there was no death, no war, no one else but them standing there, staring at the beauty of the ocean as it reflected the moonlight.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, but didn't make any effort to wipe her tears away, because she didn't need to, after everything they'd been through, tears weren't new to them.

"Yeah," he replied, but she didn't know that he wasn't talking about the ocean, he was talking about her.

"How am I supposed to forgive him, Harry?" she asked, and Harry didn't know what to say, he didn't have the courage to voice the thoughts is him mind, didn't have the energy to tell her it would be easier if she did, that Ron was human and he made a mistake he regretted. He didn't know how to tell her that Ron was hurting as much as she was, that he loved her like she loved him.

He couldn't tell her any of those things because he knew that if he did, he would lose her forever, that there would be absolutely nothing he would be able to do except watch from the outside as the girl he loved became someone else's forever.

"He walked away," she continued, her voice breaking, "I begged him to stop, to take off that damn locket, but he didn't listen, he left. Left me and you in there alone, and didn't even look back. How am I supposed to let that go? How am I supposed to trust him to not walk away when things get tough?"

The sound of her sobs filled the night, the ocean was still, as if welcoming those salty diamonds from her eyes and taking them away. He wished those tears also took away her pain and hurt.

He took her in his arms, wrapping them around her as she sobbed into his chest. He let himself preserve every moment in his memory, savour every second that passed by, because he knew that after tonight, he wasn't going to be the one she turned to.

He could never be what she needed, he could never be the person she would fall in love with, and that was something he'd known forever, something he should have accepted by now and moved on.

Slowly, her sobs turned silent, she started to breathe, and Harry felt her untangle herself from his arms. He let her go, but she didn't move away, and they stood there silently, with her head on his heart.

"Hermione," he said, bracing himself for another heart break, "Sometimes the people we love make mistakes, and it becomes really hard to forgive them, but we have to, because if we don't , then we would be nothing but people who have no one but a bunch of grudges held. You know, Ron, he would never leave you when things get hard, he's not like that, but you know as well as I do, how he felt about me and you. He's always felt like he's not good enough, for you or anyone. You have to forgive him because he loves you and..." he struggled to get the words out, "and you love him, and that's all you need."

She raised her head and looked up at him and asked, "But do I?"

Confusion spread through Harry's brain at Hermione's question, he had no idea what she meant by that.

"I never asked him for anything," she continued, "He broke my heart a million times, but I never doubted that he loved me. I always had this conviction that we would end up together, but when I saw him leave that night, when I heard him asking me to chose between you and him, my conviction wavered and I started to question everything. I started wondering if what I felt for him was really love. I thought how it could be love, we could never go a day without fighting, he makes me mad and angry and frustrated, so how could it be love?"

"Because he also makes you smile, Hermione," he replied, his heart breaking in a million pieces because he knew he could never make her smile like Ron could, "because without each other, you're both miserable. He balances you out, he completes you and you complete him. You're both like pieces of an incomplete puzzle alone, but together you make it complete. Your fights are what makes you two learn from each other. He lights you out and you make him more balanced. You two are perfect for each other, and please Hermione, don't let a stupid mistake stand in the way of that."

She stared at him, with an expression of awe on her face as Harry struggled to control his tears. He knew everything he said was true, he knew he wasn't for her, he could never be, but he still forced himself to hold it together because even though it would break his heart, he would still do everything to make sure she was happy.

Even if it was with someone else.

"When did you get so smart?" she asked, and he forced a grin for her sake.

"You must be rubbing off on me," he said, then looked towards the house to find someone looking at them, "Go," he told her, "He's standing right there, talk to him, forgive him, it's what's right."

He literally pushed her towards Ron, and watched as she reached him, a few moments later she was in his arms, and Ron smiled from above her head at Harry. He smiled back, then turned away to look at the ocean again, thinking of words to describe her again, to distract himself from the pain in his heart.

Breathtaking... he thought, that's the word for her.

A/n- Please review.


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